Rotary engine



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

J. PUTMAN. ROTARY ENGINE.

Patented Mar. 8.1898.

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(No Model.)

J'. PUTMAN. ROTARY ENGINE.

Patented Mar. 8, 1898.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN PUTMAN, OF LOVINGTON, ILLINOIS.

ROTARY ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 600,321, dated March 8, 1898.

Application filed July 15, 1897. Serial No. 644,713. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN PUTMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lovington, in the county of Moultrie and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Rotary Engine, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to rotary engines and the objects in view are to provide a simple and compact construction and arrangement of parts for controlling the admission and exhaust of the motive agent, to provide a simple and efficient construction of fixed abutments, and, furthermore, to provide improved means for varying the points of admission and cutoff, in order to utilize the expansion of the motive agent to a greater or less extent, as may be required to suit the work to be accomplished.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will appear in the following description, and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of an engine constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the same in the plane of the axis of the piston. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken in the plane of the receiving-chamher for the motive agent. Fig. 4 is a similar view taken in the plane of one of the fixed abutments, showing in dotted lines the other piston-cam, the position of the inlet-port for the other piston-chamber, and the position of the stationary cut-off.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawlngs.

1 designates a cylinder having terminal heads 2, and 3 a piston-shaft mounted in suitable bearings in the cylinder-heads and carrying the desired number of piston-cores. In the construction illustrated two piston-cores 4 are employed, each core having terminal disks 5, which are arranged in peripheral contact with the wall of the cylinder and are fitted with suitable packing-rings 6. The piston-cores are spaced apart at their contiguous ends, whereby the inner or contiguous disks 5 are separated to form an intermediate steam-chamber 7, and this steam-chamber is in communication with each piston-chamber or the space between the terminal disks of each piston-core by means of an inlet-port 8. The steam-chamber is permanently in communication with the supply-port 9, through which motive agent is admitted continuously, and in the same way an exhaust-port 10 is in communication continuously with each piston-chamber or the interval between the terminal disks of each pistoncore.

Mounted to operate through suitable longitudinal slots or openings 11 in the side wall of the cylinder are fixed abutments 12, equal in width with the intervals, respectively, between the terminal disks of the piston-cores and adapted to bear terminally upon the surfaces of said cores between the disks, except when deflected or displaced by means of the cam-surfaces 13 to allow the moving abutments 14 to pass. Each fixed abutment after such displacement is returned immediately to its operative position in terminal contact with the surface of the piston-core by means of a yielding actuating agent, such as a spring 15. In the construction illustrated the fixed abutments are mounted upon swinging arms 16, pivotally mounted upon the wall of the cylinder, and the actuating-springs which are employed for yieldingly holding the fixed abutments in their operative positions bear against the outer sides of said arms.

Inasmuch as the supply and exhaust ports are permanently in communication, respectively, with the steam-chamber and the piston-chambers, means must be provided for cutting off the supply of motive agent to each piston-chamber, if the expansion of the m0- tive agent is to be utilized, and in order to accomplish this I employ a cut-0E 17, consisting of a segmental block approximately equal in width with the steam or supply chamber and secured to the wall of the cylinder, whereby as the piston rotates the inlet-ports thereof are closed during a portion of its stroke, the amount of expansion depending upon the length of the cut-ofi block and being variable by substituting blocks of different lengths. The cut-off block whichI The movingabutments of the piston-cores are arranged at diametrically opposite points, whereby one member of the piston is under full stroke while the fixed abutment of the other member is being withdrawn to allow the contiguous moving abutment to pass.

From the above description it will be seen that the steam or supply chamber is located wholly within the cylindrical contour of the casing, and therefore the only exposed parts of the engine are the devices which carry the fixed abutments, and a particular advantage of the said arrangement of the supply-chamber resides in the fact that it is located contiguous to the points of usenamely, the piston-chambers.

Various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim is- 1. A rotary engine having a cylinder, a piston having spaced disks, the interval between two of said disks forming a supply-chamber in communication with a supply-port in the cylinder, and also in communication through an inlet-port with the piston-chamber, a fixed block in thesupply-chamber for closing said communication with the piston-chamber at intervals and a fixed abutment and actuating devices for cooperating with the piston, substantially as specified.

2. A rotary engine having a cylinder, a piston having a plurality of cores provided with terminal disks fitting peripherally in the cylinder, contiguous spaced disks forming an intermediate supply-chamber in communication with a supply-port in the wall of the cylinder, the disks between which the supplychamber is formed being provided with inletports through which motive agent may pass to the piston-chambers, fixed abutments for cooperating respectively with the pistoncores, and a fixed cut-off, for closing said inlet-ports, arranged within the supply-chamber and laterally in contact with the contiguterminal disks forming a supply-chamber in communication with a supplyport in the cylinder, and said contiguous disks being provided with inlet-ports whereby communication is established between the supply-chamber and the piston-chambers, fixed abutments for cooperatin g respectively with the pistoncores, and a segmental cut-off block secured to the cylinder in the plane of the supplychamber, for contact at its side surfaces with the contiguous surfaces of the disks in which the said inlet-ports are formed, to close the ports, substantially as specified.

4. A rotary engine having a cylinder, a piston having a plurality of cores spaced apart at their contiguous ends and provided with terminal disks fitting peripherally in the cylinder, each core being also provided with a moving abutment and a contiguous cam-surface, and the interval between the contiguousdisks of the cores forming an annular supply-chamber, in communication with a supply-port inv the cylinder, and also in. communication with the piston-chambers through inlet-ports in the contiguous disks, fixed abutments mounted in guides in the cylinder and having swinging arms, yielding means for normally holding the fixed abutments in terminal contact with the piston-cores, and a segmental cut-off block fixed to the cylinder in the plane of said supply-chamber, to close the inlet-ports at different points in the stroke of the piston, substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JOHN PUTMAN.

Witnesses:

O. A. BAKER, J. V. COX. 

